The Delta War
by xXBalorBabeXx
Summary: He wasn't sure why this young girl in front of his was being treated as a criminal... he didn't see her that way and he was gonna help her get out of there. Even if that meant him going with her. (AU, co-written with Cry-Of-A-Warp-Engine)
1. A Past Better Left Behind

_**September 23rd 2410…**_

" _Go, go, go!" 20 year old Seth responded loudly, him and 16 year old Amanda running off._

" _Why'd you have to go and enrage him?!" Amanda replied, her plasma rifle strapped to her back._

" _I thought he'd appreciate a response of guts and courage!" Seth spoke in response as the two stopped, taking cover for a moment behind a bulkhead door aboard the USS Newton, the small Sabre class ship they served on._

" _Voth are not Klingons, idiot!" Amanda responded, widening her eyes as she heard the logic behind his actions. He was about to respond when a pulse of Antiproton energy sparked off the door edge as the Voth had followed them… moments before beaming off the ship._

 _It was quiet as they kept moving and Amanda looking around._

" _Soon as we find it, we're going to a simpler time. Live out our lives like normal people." Amanda responded, Seth turning startled and pulling her aside._

" _Mandy, we don't even know if the thing works, let alone how to use it!" Seth replied, Amanda dragging him over to an access panel and showing him an overhead grid map of the ship._

" _See those hull breaches? The bridge is gone, the core is about to breach, soon the ship will burn! Wherever and however we go, we have! To go!" Amanda responded, pointing out several chunks of the ship missing._

 _She turned her attention to the panel… and Seth was regretting what he was about to do to his childhood friend._

" _I hope you forgive me…" Seth muttered before he slammed Amanda hard into the wall and she fell._

 _Amanda tried to get up but her vision was blurring and she saw him disappearing before she lost consciousness._

 _The next thing she knew, she jumped up from her seat, her palms flat against the glass of the small window as she saw the scattered ruins of the Newton quickly fading into the distance as her escape pod propelled itself away._

" _They destroyed us entirely." Amanda turned around, finding she was in the pod with one of her crew mates, Baron. "Good call stopping the captain, Mandy. Guess who just started a war!"_

" _Must you always be an ass?!" Amanda replied as she rubbed her head._

" _I don't think you get the picture here Cena, your little mutiny caused the firing to start, the blood to shed! Every life lost down on that ship is on you and Seth, wherever he is!" Baron responded, standing up. "If I hadn't known you so long, I'd have left you unconscious by that bulkhead but I actually want to save lives!"_

" _And the guy you choked to death in last week's poker game was just what, a casualty?" Amanda questioned sarcastically, Baron grabbing her by her neck._

" _You know…" He spoke after a moment, letting her go. "I'm not gonna give you any more hassle. You're gonna get plenty of it from the admiralty." He spoke as he sat back down on his side of the pod._

 _Once the two had crashed and had left the pod behind, Amanda walked around, lost._

 _But her walk soon turned slow, her body in so much pain that she fell to her knees and then to her side… and heard footsteps before seeing a pair of blue eyes._

" _Help…" Amanda said, her voice weak as she was lifted up and lost consciousness…_

 **Present time** _ **, March 5th, 2411**_

Events which had seemed so quick at the time had sent the previous months into chaos, as the losses on both sides sparked outrage and inevitably war. As if the Alliance and Voth hadn't gotten enough fighting over the Solanae Dyson Sphere, the conflict had now spread to the Beta quadrant, the Voth front approaching inwards from the outer rim, a path which had bypassed both Borg and Iconian space.

Amanda, meanwhile, had been given a full blaming by most people. While it had been far from her intention, in the lack of Seth she had been called a mutineer, the biggest since Michael Burnham.

Staring out of the window at the passing stars, Amanda was dead silent in the prisoner transport Danube Runabout, despite the other three prisoners aboard making small talk among themselves for the whole trip so far.

"Hey."

The other three looked to the guard, who motioned for them to leave so he could talk to Amanda… they were escorted out and 25 year old Finn walked in, closing the cell door.

"You feeling okay?" Finn questioned.

"Neck still hurts…" Amanda responded.

"Can't do much except try and bare it… a lot of people seem to dislike you." Finn replied, Amanda looking at him.

"And you don't?" Amanda questioned.

"I prefer to judge people in the now. You did what you did, but I'd prefer to see what you do next." Finn answered, Amanda a bit confused as she hadn't seen much more than surviving a maximum security Federation prison in her future. "I'm not a prison guard, I'm a security chief on a starship. We're at war, all hands are needed so my captain called in for temporary hands from the prison, nothing too specific except that you were the only one asked for specifically. By name."

"Our plan was to go back 400 years or thereabouts." Amanda explained.

"Our?" Finn asked.

"Seth went berserk, slammed me against the wall… took the escape for himself." Amanda answered.

"Seems people were so fixed on blaming you that they forgot there were two…" Finn replied before she stood up. "I don't know why Captain Zayba asked for you specifically but… whatever she has planned for you, I judge on how you'd use this opportunity. Not on why you got here."

"Hopefully it works." Amanda responded, Finn pulling his jacket off and putting it on her to keep her warm.

"I'm gonna find a way to get you out of here… Zayba might already have something in mind." Finn replied.

"Why would you risk everything… for a kid?" Amanda questioned.

"You wanted a war no more than the rest of us. It's wrong for you to be kept like this for it, to be outcast by half a galaxy." Finn answered.

Amanda nodded and the two hugged before Finn left.

After docking with the Vesta class USS Arundel, he met up with Luke and Karl in the mess hall.

"Kid doing any better?" Karl asked.

"Past few months have made her very withdrawn, can't say I blame her." Finn answered as he sat down at their regular table.

"We've gotta get her out of here… this isn't right, what's happened." Luke responded.

' _Her plan didn't sound so bad…'_ Finn thought before he went to find Captain Zayba, not liking how Amanda flinched earlier.

Somehow, it had to be done.


	2. Starting Our Escape

_**A/N: Graphic flashback, reader discretion advised...**_

"You're asking a lot of me…" Zayba responded after Finn explained everything.

"You know it's not right, her being treated the way she is." Finn replied, Zayba opening her arms outwards.

"So I brought her here." Zayba responded, Finn confused. "She didn't want this war, she didn't deserve prison. I drafted her in with the others not just as a work hand and definitely not just temporarily. I'm giving her a shot at redemption here." She explained.

"She wants freedom, somewhere to start over… a simpler time where there was no war, where she can be a kid." Finn replied.

"I can't say I blame her… I remember the day you ran into the ship with her in your arms, scared out of her mind." Zayba responded.

"This ship has temporal drive tech… from our encounters in the past. We can send her back, put her on Earth at some point when it was quiet… I'll go with her." Finn suggested, Zayba looking out of the window as warped stars shot by.

"You know I would if I could. It's not that simple." Zayba said after a moment, before looking back at him. "When we're no longer at war, maybe we can work something out without alerting temporal investigations. Until then, we need all resources towards our work. The Arundel is no longer a science testbed, Finn, it's a warship."

"Lori, she's just a child…" Finn responded, Zayba startled at hearing her first name.

"I didn't say I was making her a soldier, I said I was getting her to help, nothing else. Now… I'd like to speak with her before we make any final decisions, could you bring her up here please?" Zayba responded.

Finn nodded and left… when he eventually reached Amanda's cell, he walked in and over to her.

But she was gripping on tight to her pillow and let out a scared cry as Finn touched her, Amanda's hazel eyes opening.

"Hey, you're alright. You're safe… and I can tell you some good news, you won't be sleeping in this cell ship tonight. More comfortable quarters aboard the ship are a definite, as for the rest… captain wants to chat, work it out with you." Finn explained, a gentle tone at first as she was frightened.

Amanda sat up and Finn helped her stand up and to the door… but the sudden noises woke Amanda's angry cellmate, Mark Jindrak.

"Sneaking off, I take it?! Be quieter about it!" Mark growled.

Amanda was about to slap him but Finn stopped her… and punched Mark himself.

"Oww! What the fuck?!" Mark responded angrily.

"Keep it up, you're getting your ass kicked!" Finn replied before he guided Amanda ahead out of the prison runabout, across the Arundel's shuttle bay and to the turbolift.

"Thanks for hitting him… another night and I would've lost my mind." Amanda replied after Finn helped her sit down.

"Luckily unlike yourself he'll be staying on that small craft tonight. I did say Zayba might have something in mind… the shuttle has conveniently developed an engine error which will take a few days to fix." Finn explained before the turbolift stopped at the bridge and he helped her to stand again.

Amanda almost felt like she'd taken a step back in time when she stepped into the control hub of the ship, the whole atmosphere and noises coming back to her of a ship's commanding crew… back to when Seth was still around.

A part of her wondered where he was now.

"She's in there. It'll be alright, I'll be out here." Finn explained, motioning across the cyan blue carpeted floor to the ready room door.

Amanda stood up on her tiptoes and kissed him on his jaw before she walked down the hall and into the room… and Zayba's eyes widened when she saw how thin Amanda was.

"I hate those prison facilities. Guards are almost as bad as the prisoners at times." Zayba said before she nudged a glass bowl of fruit across the desk towards Amanda. "Probably the first time you'll have tasted a fruit that didn't come from a replicator. We grow them in the gardens on board."

Amanda nodded and ate carefully… and couldn't fight the smile that crept across her face at the sweet taste of the red apple.

"That's better." Zayba responded after Amanda finished the apple and they sat down, Zayba seeing the bruises. "Bully cellmate?"

"He seemed nice at first… then he just… he snapped." Amanda explained.

"A lot of people have lost a lot to this war and then Starfleet command threw the blame on you. They threw you into a situation no kid needs." Zayba replied, pausing for a moment. "But a lot of people wouldn't see you the light way me and security chief Balor do so the question is, what do I do with a young mutineer aboard my multi-mission exploration cruiser in the midst of a war?"

"If anyone's the mutineer, it's Rollins… he left me here to take the blame." Amanda responded, Zayba reaching over and brushing Amanda's tears away.

"I know, I accept that as what happened, you were wrongfully accused. I meant it… by other people's perspective, you need to fit in somewhere." Zayba replied in a soothing tone, giving it a moment for Amanda to calm down. "Your file said you were an assistant to the chief engineer on the Newton. How would you feel about helping out down in our core?"

"Yes ma'am." Amanda replied.

"Good. Now go rest… you look terrible." Zayba responded before Amanda headed for the door, turning back when Zayba spoke again. "One more thing… the Arundel was built as a technological testbed, we're currently running experiments with a highly classified project that's only open to those cleared by command. You're on rocky ground with a lot of people already, I'd advise against prying into things, when the time is right I'll explain it to you."

Amanda nodded and left… at the quarters, she had managed to pull the jacket off.

And Finn's eyes widened when he saw the hand shaped bruises on her wrists.

"Mark was more than just some bully to you…" Finn responded as they sat down.

"I was asleep… and then…" Amanda replied.

 _ **20 hours earlier…**_

 _Amanda was sleeping when she felt the cot dip a bit and opened her eyes to see Mark with an evil smile on his face._

" _Leave me alone!" Amanda responded, trying to sound threatening as he touched her skin… and as she tried to run, he pinned her against the wall and Amanda screamed._

" _Maybe I feel like you owe me a bit, Tiny!" Mark growled._

" _For what?! You never protected me! I don't owe you anything!" Amanda replied as she tried to scream for Finn but her mouth was clamped shut by the disgraced soldier._

" _Maybe for me not breaking your neck like many people say I should have the moment you set foot in here!" Mark answered angrily, his one hand remaining clamped on her mouth while his other had began yanking at her top._

" _I didn't do what they said…" Amanda responded angrily after she bit him, Mark jumping back after yelling out in pain. "I'm not yours or anyone's to victimize, you sick fuck!" She growled, Mark letting a low and dangerous growl out… before they heard approaching footsteps and saw Karl._

" _The hell's going on here?!" Karl asked._

" _Kid had a panic attack in her sleep." Mark explained calmly._

" _Liar!" Amanda yelled as Karl unlocked the door and saw Amanda fidgeting with her sleeves… and guided her to get fixed up._

 _The prison sickbay was quiet as Stephanie stood up._

" _Fighting?" Stephanie questioned._

" _If you knew the truth, you wouldn't sleep tonight." Karl explained as Stephanie patched Amanda up. 'We're gonna get you away from him.' He mouthed, Amanda nodding…_


	3. Looking For A Fresh Start

**Present time,** _ **March 6th 2411…**_

Amanda had broken down in tears as Finn held her close to him and rubbed her back.

"If… if you hadn't shown up..." Amanda responded through her sobs, Finn gently getting her to look up at him.

"No one is ever gonna hurt you again. I promise." Finn replied before he kissed Amanda on her forehead and they let go.

She went to go shave, clean off and once that was done, she was drying off and wrapped the towel around her.

Amanda finished getting ready to go to sleep and picked up the scissors… before she carefully cut her brushed out and still wet hair until it was even and at her shoulders with the front part of it reaching just below her eyebrows.

She washed the scissors off and put them away before throwing away the discarded hair… and walking back into the main room of the quarters, Finn seeing that her hair was shorter.

"Now you can see without having to tie your hair back." Finn replied before he helped her lie down in the only bed in the room.

But both were relatively small enough so they could fit.

Amanda dozed off into a peaceful slumber as Finn watched her.

' _Probably the first night of real sleep you've had in months… poor kid.'_ Finn thought.

It was early when both were woken up by someone pounding on the sliding door… and Finn covered Amanda's head.

"Shh…" Finn whispered before he stood up and opened the door.

From under where she was, Amanda could see the person outside was a woman who stood about 5'6", had long dark hair with golden highlights in it and brown eyes and she was clearly angry.

"You've got her here, don't you?! You've got a criminal here?!" The woman seethed, Amanda able to see _'Admiral Kelley'_ on the woman's badge.

"She's not a criminal, she's a scared kid who was in over her head and wrongly accused." Finn explained.

"You expect me to believe that?!" Admiral Kelley responded.

"Believe whatever you want but you and I were a match made in Hell and I'm not putting up with your jealousy again." Finn replied before the woman left and the door closed… and he stretched out on the bed.

"The hell was that about?" Amanda questioned quietly.

"She started out sweet at first but then got really jealous about me being friends with other women… sorry if she scared you." Finn replied.

"She didn't. She was just really loud." Amanda responded as Finn lightly examined the bruises.

"I think I know who can help make these bruises fade away." Finn replied before he stood up and walked to the communicator, pressing the button. "Becky, I need you to head over here right away." He explained.

When the door opened again, Becky Lynch walked in with medical tools… and her brown eyes widened when she saw Amanda's bruises and how thin Amanda was.

If she had to guess, Amanda couldn't have weighed more than 94 pounds… and even for someone in the low 5ft height range, that was too thin.

"Oh, you poor thing…" Becky replied as Finn helped Amanda sit up… and Becky scanned the tool over Amanda's face and arms, making the bruises fade. "You need to eat more, Captain Zayba is holding off work for you until she's sure you can stand up without falling over. Finn, you better get her to the cafeteria so she can start putting some weight back on her body." She replied.

Finn nodded and helped Amanda up as Becky left a few things behind… and Amanda got ready for the day after putting on a Japanese Blossom scented perfume and antiperspirant.

' _Becky didn't have to go out of her way like this… and neither did Finn.'_ Amanda thought as she applied the peach colored concealer to mask the dark circles under her eyes and closed it before applying a natural toned concealer, blending it in and on her upper eyelids before applying it to her face and closing the little tube.

She went with a bronze liquid shimmer, lightly applying it to her face before applying a rustic orange toned eyeshadow to her upper eyelids and finishing with black liquid eyeliner in a cat eye look and mascara.

On her nails, she had applied Essie's Fill The Gap before letting it dry and applying Essie's Mind-Full Meditation, finishing off with applying Essie's Mademoiselle once Mind-Full Meditation had dried fully... once the makeup tubes, containers and nail polish bottles were closed and she washed her hands and sprayed some air freshener, she readjusted her Starfleet uniform and exited the restroom.

And Finn looked up and saw her.

"Did I put on too much?" Amanda questioned, feeling nervous and Finn lightly rested his left hand on her right wrist.

"No, of course you didn't… I just think I've gotten too used to seeing you look so disheveled. This way of seeing you, all cleaned up and well rested, is much nicer." Finn explained.

"Thank you. You've been so nice to me, reaching out and helping me when we didn't even know each other at first." Amanda responded as they hugged for a few seconds.

In the cafeteria, Baron looked up and saw an aggravated Cathy and walked over.

"Admiral Kelley…" Baron replied.

"Your former teammate made it out alive." Cathy responded, Baron's eyes widening.

"That little hellcat?! Where is she?!" Baron asked.

"My too good for his own good ex convinced Zayba to give her a chance." Cathy explained.

"You outrank Zayba… surely you can just overrule her orders, right?" Baron questioned.

"Normally yes, but we're at war and that changes certain things. Being down as a front line captain, Zayba's position means if she decides something she's doing is for the war effort, it's already an admiralty decision set in stone, only people higher than me can overrule that. And whatever she's planning to do with Amanda, she seems to think it's essential." Cathy explained, leaning against the wall midway through and glancing over the few other crew members having drinks and snacks between their duty shifts.

"Apparently so." Baron replied before they saw Amanda and Finn… and Amanda looked around on instinct, Finn lightly rubbing her back.

"I keep thinking Seth's gonna run over all hyper on coffee… some days I want to strangle him and others, I just want to talk to him again. We used to sit down and watch the cartoons from centuries ago…" Amanda responded as they grabbed what they wanted for breakfast and coffee and sat down to eat… and Finn seeing the smile on her face when she ate her strawberry pancakes.

"Everything's changing. I promise, things are going to get better, little lady." Finn replied.

" _And we understand when people are angry, they say a lot of things they don't mean. Like last week and even earlier tonight, you saying you don't need J and J in your corner. Seth, you know Joey's sensitive, he's been taking this hard…"_

The smile faded from Amanda's face as she looked at the Tv, which was airing an episode of WWE Raw from June 8th 2015… and Finn saw the look in her eyes when she saw Seth.

" _Are you, are you kidding me? I meant every single thing I said about you two, last week and tonight! You would be nothing without me, I plucked you from obscurity and made you my security team because I felt sorry for you! Do you understand that, huh?! I made you two relevant, relevant! And all I wanted in return was a little competence, alright?! If you two weren't the biggest morons in the history of WWE, then maybe Dean Ambrose wouldn't be running around the French Quarter with my title! I never needed either of you!"_

"Son of a bitch… if only they knew what he truly is and everything he's done." Amanda responded quietly and Finn could see she was angry and hurting again… and that she was reevaluating her broken friendship with Seth, Finn lightly squeezing her right hand with his left one, Amanda wrapping her fingers around his hand.

Cathy narrowed her eyes in a jealous manner at the two after Baron had left.

The older woman felt aggravated by the younger girl… but not in the manner that the majority of the crew on the ship had.

She didn't see Amanda as a threat to the galaxy… Cathy saw Amanda as taking what she herself wanted back.


End file.
